England vs Denmark
England vs Denmark is the second semi-final of Euro2020 and takes place on July 7 at Wembley in London. England crushed Ukraine 4-0 in their quarter-final match to reach the last four, while Denmark overcame Czech Republic 2-1 to book their place in the semi-finals. Which team will overcome this hurdle to reach Sunday’s final? Read more for analysis, match predictions and betting tips.
Form
England head coach Gareth Southgate received vindication for his tactical tweaks and slight squad rotation as England brutally swept Ukraine away in Rome. Ukraine had gone into the game with the aim of being tough to break down to frustrate England but within four minutes that plan lay in tatters as Harry Kane poked home Raheem Sterling’s precise pass for his second goal of the tournament. As the match went on England grew in confidence and a comfortable win became a rout thanks to further goals from Harry Maguire, Kane again and a first England goal for Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson. England are now unbeaten in ten and haven’t conceded a goal since Jakub Moder’s goal for Poland seven games ago. This match represents their toughest test so far but it would be ignorant to think that England have not found form at the right time. This is England’s first semi-final in this competition for 25 years - they lost the last one on penalties at Wembley. They won’t want to do that again.
Denmark raced into a two goal lead in their own quarter-final thanks to goals from Borussia Dortmund midfielder Thomas Delaney and Nice forward Kasper Dolberg. While Patrik Schick scored his fifth goal of the tournament just after half time to bring the Czechs back into it they were unable to break down a spirited Denmark team any further. There is very much a fairytale story arc to Denmark’s campaign following Christian Eriksen’s heart attack on the pitch in the first match but to attribute Denmark’s run since then to wanting to do it for his teammate is unfair to just how well this Danish team is playing. Kasper Hjulmand’s charges have won seven of their ten games this year, with their only defeats being to #1 ranked side Belgium and to Finland in the wake of Eriksen’s trauma. This is the first time Denmark have made it this far since they won the tournament in 1992 as a late replacement for Yugoslavia; can they go all the way again?
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Injuries
Bukayo Saka missed the quarter-final having picked up a knock in training but could be fit enough to return to the squad for this game. There are no other injury worries for England leaving Southgate with some very tough decisions. Jadon Sancho returned to the first team for the quarter-final as Southgate looked to get in behind the expected five man Ukrainian defence and it’ll be interesting to see if he goes with width again with Denmark lining up 3-4-3 in their last three games. Should Southgate decide that he needs more guile than pace it might mean a recall for Jack Grealish or Phil Foden; regardless, there are a plethora of options which could make it hard for Denmark to guess the team ahead of time.
Denmark skipper Simon Kjaer came through 90 minutes for Denmark against Czech Republic having been a doubt pre-match, while Daniel Wass and Yusuf Poulsen both shrugged off knocks to come off the bench for the Danes. A big part of the Danish threat comes from wide, with Atalanta full-back Joakim Maehle particularly impressing on the left. The big question will be if Hjulmand sticks with an attacking 3-4-3 which pushes Maehle and Brondby right-back Jens Stryer Larsen into more attacking positions; while it might pin England back it also could create space for players like Sterling, Sako and Sancho to wreak havoc.
Match Predictions
England come into the match as favourites with the bookies offering 1.70 against an English win in 90 minutes. The last time these two teams met at Wembley was last year in the Nations League when a Christian Eriksen penalty was enough to give Denmark the win; with the talismanic midfielder missing the bookies are offering 5.50 against Denmark winning in 90 minutes. There might be some nice betting tips in the handicap markets with Denmark +1 at a very generous 2.10. One interesting bet offered by a few bookies is method of victories; Denmark on pens is a healthy 12.00 which seems high based on England’s past tournament heartbreaks.
